I have recently signed up for a basic dive class through my university and I have a few questions on dive equipment.
1. I got off the phone with the local dive shop that is doing the class, and got the whole speech about buying locally and being able to try the stuff on. While I want to support them, I dont really have money too. Is a local dive shop worth the extra cash?
Any other advice would be appreciated!!!! Thanks you guys rock!
Wow! superman is learning diving. Well welcome to ScubaBoard, even if you leave your super powers at the side of the pool. As a college student, learning a new world, not having enough money for everything is something 90%, at least, of us have faced. So to begin. . . hang on to your money, tightly, until you know that each piece of gear is the right piece of gear for you.
Most dive instructors, are spending lots of hours with you because he makes money for his work. If he gets a commission from the local dive store, and he helps you find the best value, there is no problem. He is teaching you about a new world, and if you believe he knows what he is doing. . . listen to him, or her.
Your first water work is usually in a pool. A mask, fins and snorkel, can cost less than a hundred dollars, to wow. A good fitting mask is the number one priority, fins and snorkel way, way down the list of priority. There are fashion masks, corrective vision masks, masks with multiple windows, low volume or high volume. . . Does it fit underwater. There is only one important consideration. . . fit under water. If you buy locally, and it leaks, you should be able to exchange for a good fit. Fins and snorkel can be from the rental bin, for years into your future diving, they are that unimportant.
After your classroom work, and finishing your pool training. . . you must have checkout dives in, usually local, open water. You don't say where you are. . . if your checkout dives are under the north pole, your next priority is a dry suit. . . If you're in more moderate waters, wet suit. . . and if in the tropics never mind, we're all envious. You probably know if you are a small, medium or large. . . there isn't an exposure suit made that fits like you think it should. If you have access to 5 brands of wetsuits, and can try on 5 different size large, there will not be two that fit alike. Before you buy, you have to try on every brand of suit in your state. How to tell, which one to buy. . . drum roll, you have to try the suit in the water!
As for which regulator brands, They are all very similar, because they're basically all copies of old designs, and all the "New", "Greatest", "Best", Kryptonite. . . they all are similar under the skin. Things to think about is future repair parts. US Divers and ScubaPro have replacement parts for many of their regulators from 30 years ago. Some brands can't fix regulators from 10 years ago. Your local dive store is the only repair person you'll be able to talk to face to face with. He will have access to training and parts for the brands he carries. . . be nice to him!
Spend all the money you can afford, buy, rent, even borrow. But put lots of money into AIR. That's right Blow lots of bubbles, it's the greatest bargain on the planet. A new class is offered "Underwater square dancing only $150. Buy AIR $150 worth of diving experience, is more valuable to your future than any $150 patch.
Listen to, or ignore as you choose. . . taking my first certification class, many years ago, the instructor introduced me as "that diving bum". and on my open water "check out dives, I taught the instructor and assistant instructor, how to find fish, and sent them home with "dinner". How new and shining your gear, how many stripes, color coordinated, how good you look strutting around the shore, changes season to season. My gear is from 1 year old, to 20 years old and everything is in good repair, and it functions very well. Some look at me and think I dive deep, or chase sea monsters or whatever they think an experienced diver should do. . . Not true, Experience lets you do the easy dives, very easily, and take divers to the parts of the lake where the diving is interesting, not dangerous.
Look around the board under the "Forums" button. Look for brands of equipment, things to do underwater, Regional travel for exotic locations, and definitely look through the photo gallery. Blow lots of bubbles and in twenty years come back here and give advice to the new divers questioning, what to buy.
